More Than Dwarves, We Are Family
by CovenantGirlLoki
Summary: It was his third night with the company, watching how each members' face pinched with worry as they watched over Fili and Kili, that Bilbo Baggins realises they were more than just a company. They were a family. More than just a band of dwarves. They were a band of brothers. beware very ooc, nightmare!fic


A/N I own nothing

Ok so I just saw the second Hobbit and it is amazing, however this has nothing to do with the movie also beware the characters are_** really**_ ooc

MORE THAN DWARVES...WE ARE FAMILY

It was sometime in the early morning…or perhaps late at night, Bilbo wasn't sure. He hadn't been able to sleep over the sounds of the dwarves. Even in their sleep they were impossibly loud: snoring, talking in their sleep and some of them (who shall not be named) were simply unable to control their…bodily functions.

And so there Bilbo sat, in the corner of the cave they were currently residing in, wide awake with nothing to do but watch in envy as his companions slept on undisturbed. All but one. Bilbo's eyes came to rest on the youngest of their little group. Kili lay between his uncle and his brother, Thorin and Fili, and slept fitfully. How his older relatives were able to remain asleep baffled Bilbo.

For the last twenty minutes Kili had been tossing and turning in his sleep, occasionally hitting Fili's arm, encouraging him to turn away. The young warrior was having a nightmare that much was clear to Bilbo, the cause and content of the nightmare however was not.

Every now and then Kili would murmur something too softly for Bilbo to hear. After a few more minutes of straining his ears, Bilbo had gathered enough information to conclude that the nightmare was about Fili…in pain. And from Kili's response he was unable to help.

Kili's soft murmurs quickly turned to whimpers. It was a heartbreaking sound. The sound seemed to echo off the caves walls and rang through Bilbo's ears.

Bilbo was trying to decide what to do when suddenly Kili sat bolt upright and screamed at the top of his lungs. "FILI!"

Kili's panicked scream awoke the other members of the company instantly. Fili was the first to recover from the rude awakening and grabbed his gasping brothers' shoulders and looked into his unfocused glassy eyes. "I'm here Kili! What's happened? Are you hurt?" he demanded as he ran his hands down his brothers' arms, choosing to check for injury through touch rather than looking away.

Kili shook his head as tears fell freely from his eyes. Fili pulled his trembling little brother to his chest and wrapped his arms around himprotectively. Kili's body continued to shake as he cried into his brothers' neck, his arms tightly around Fili's waist as if if he were to let go, Fili would slip away.

Bilbo watched in silent surprise as one after the other the dwarves stood and wondered over to the brothers, each rubbing Kili's back or shoulder and offering words of comfort before returning to their bedding and watching the pair with worry clearly showing on their faces.

Thorin remained still for a very long time, his dark eyes clearly troubled, before he gently touched Kili's shoulder and caught Fili's gaze. Thorintilted his head slightly and Fili nodded. Slowly and carefully Fili pulled back out of the embrace, being mindful to keep hold of his brothers arms, silently offering Kili his strength, as Thorin shifted and slid one arm beneath his nephew's knees and wrapped the other around his waist.

Bilbo couldn't hide his shock at what happened next.

Swiftly, before Kili had time to react, Thorin lifted him onto his lap. Without hesitation Kili's arms wrapped themselves around Thorin's neck as he continued to cry into his shoulder.

Though he didn't think it possible Bilbo's eyes widened when Thorin started to rock Kili back and forth slowly, cooing gently in his ear as he encourage the young warrior, who looked like a small child as he sat in his uncles arms, back to sleep.

It wasn't long until Kili's sub conscious took its hold and the small dwarf's crying and trembling stopped. Thorin nodded once more to Fili, who was leaning forward anxiously towards his brother, who turned and flashed a reassuring smile and thumbs up towards the rest of the company. Bilbo watched, astonished, as one by one the dwarves lied back down and quickly fell asleep.

Finally Dwalin took pity on the hobbit and explained in a quiet voice: "As you know master Hobbit Kili and Fili are closer than most brothers and are near inseparable. In times of stress Kili hides behind his joke's and sarcasm but when he sleeps his mind plagues him with nightmares. Thorin thinks it's his way of dealing with the stress that he hides." Dwalin's eyes wandered back to the dwarf in question. Thorin had laid Kili back down. Fili was already lying down and as soon as Kili was down he was in his big brothers arms. "Kili's nightmares have the same theme."

"Let me guess." Bilbo interrupted. "Fili's in trouble and Kili can't help him?"

Dwalin nodded with a grim expression. "Aye, Kili is strong but the thought of living without Fili is often too much for the poor lad. When he wakes up his a mess. Mind you Fili's the same." Bilbo was surprised to hear that and looked to the elder brother in question. Fili was always so calm and confident it was hard to imagine him crying, but then again until moments ago Bilbo would have said the same about Kili. He turned back to Dwarlin as he continued. "Fili is usually able to hide it better than Kili and to everyone's relief he stopped waking up crying many years ago, but we can still tell."

"How?" Bilbo asked, hoping that if he were to see the signs he might be able to help.

"We can tell by the way he acts around Kili. If the nightmare is particularly bad Fili always does the same thing. As soon as he wakes he checks if Kili is awake or not. If not he checks for a pulse, which of course he finds, that usually calms him down a bit but he is still tense." Dwalin said slowly as he tried to remember Fili's nightmare routine. "Then…well it depends…if it's still early Fili will lie back down and hold his brother to his chest, refusing to let go." Dwalin chuckled. "It annoys Kili when he awakes to find himself pinned to his brother." He chuckled again. "If not then he gets up and practices his swordsmanship. But the really tell is during the day. Fili won't let Kili out of his sight."

Bilbo nodded thoughtfully before asking the question that was biting at him, "But why did the rest of you get up?"

Dwalin looked at him as if he had just asked why the moon wasn't brown. "Because Bilbo, we had to make sure he knew that everyone is alive and well. Now anything else?" he questioned impatiently.

"Oh no…thank you." Bilbo answered awkwardly.

Laying back down to allow sleep to take its hold on him, Bilbo couldn't help but think that the dwarves around him were more than just a company…they were a family.


End file.
